Rail anchor



J. L. GRANT Jan. 25, 1955 RAIL ANCHOR Filed Dec. 29, 1949 I VENTOR. Jofizz J. mnjf United States Patent ments, to Poor & Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application December 29, 1949, Serial No. 135,800

3 Claims. (Cl. 238-327) This invention relates to rail anchors of the general class made from rolled metal bar stock and includes a body portion which extends across the rail beneath the base thereof in a position to abut against a vertical face of a cross tie and has terminal end portions for grlpping the base portion of the rail at opposite sides of the rail.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide an improved anchor of the above general class 1n which the end portions of the bar by which the anchor efiects its gripping engagement with the rail base flanges at opposite sides of the rail are of less thickness horizontally than the intermediate portion of the anchor so that the said intermediate portion affords an effective bearing for the anchor against the side face of the cross tie while at the same time such end portions are disposed in spaced relationship to the tie. In the improved arrangement as shown by the drawings, a smooth wide surface of substantial area is provided for bearing flat against a vertical face portion of an adjacent cross t1e so as to enable the anchor to press very strongly agalnst the cross tie without undue tendency for the anchor to cut into the tie and thus injure it and shorten its effective life.

By the use of this construction and arrangement, the anchor is given an effective bearing on the cross tie well below the bottom face of the rail so as to apply a heavy lever pressure on the anchor for giving 1t a turning or twisting motion about an axis extending transversely of the rail and thus causing the anchor to be tightened more and more as the pressure increases between the anchor and the cross tie, this being true even in cases where the width of the tie plate is the same as that of the cross tie.

By virtue of the improved constructions herein disclosed, the portion of the anchor engagmg the cross tie is given its greatest strength for resisting flexing longitudinally of the rail, while at the same time the end gripping jaw portions of the anchor are given great strength and stiffness for resisting distortion of such aw portions either upwardly or outwardly.

Another object of the invention is to 1mprove anchors of this type in sundry details hereinafter pointed out. The preferred means by which the several objects are accomplished are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a face view of the improved anchor m position on a rail, shown in section on a cross tie partially broken away.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially at the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the several figures of the drawings, in which corresponding parts are indicated by the same reference characters, indicates a railroad r ail secured in position on a cross tie 11 by means of spikes 12 engaging the opposite side portions of the rail flange 13, with a tie plate 14 interposed between the rail and the cross tie.

.Anchors of the general type previously referred to may be produced in various forms. For the purpose of the present disclosure, a specific anchor is shown, but

it is to be understood that the form of rail anchor shown is illustrated merely for the purpose of convenience and therefore is not to be regarded as limiting the invention.

The anchor device includes a metal bar bent at one end into a hook for engaging an edge portion of the rail base at one side of the rail and to provide a jaw 18 for engaging the top face of the rail flange 13 at one side of the rail and to provide a bearing at 19 for engagement with the bottom face of the rail 10 at a suitable location, according to the form of anchor produced. The anchor is also provided with a downwardly bowed portion 20 extending a substantial distance below the bottom face of the rail base and of considerable length, with its side face disposed so as to present a flat smooth bearing surface to the cross tie 11, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. With the angular position of the side face of the downwardly bowed portion 20 corresponding to that of the cross tie 11, such downwardly bowed bearing portion 20 is capable of applying very heavy pressure on the cross-tie without any undue tendency for the anchor to cut into and consequently injure the face of the crosstie.

In the embodiment shown, a jaw portion 21 is provided at the end opposite from that at which the jaw portion 18 is provided, such jaw portion 21 being arranged so as to extend substantially vertically as shown in Fig. 1, being provided with a shoulder at 22 in position to have snap engagement with the flange 13 of the rail for holding the anchor effectively in position on the rail. In the application of the anchor to the rail, the jaw portion 18 is first hooked about the flange 13 at the left in Fig. 1, after which the anchor is swung upwardly in counterclockwise direction in said figure and forced upwardly by any suitable means into gripping engagement with the rail flange, the upper end portion of the anchor at the right in said figure being obliquely disposed with respect to the body portion of the anchor so as to have a camming action as the anchor is forced upwardly for causing the jaw 21 to spread toward the right for bringing the shoulder at 22 into holding engagement with the flange 13.

The arrangement is such that the jaws 18 and 21 apply heavy pressure transversely on the flange 13 when the anchor is in operative position on the rail, and the bearing portions engaging the top faces of the flange portions at opposite sides of the rail in cooperation with the intermediate hearing at 19 cause the anchor as a whole to have a strong lever grip on the flange. When the rail 10 has a tendency to move toward the left in Fig. 3 so as to apply heavy pressure, through the anchor, on the side face of the cross tie 11, such side pressure is applied only at the portion of the anchor in downwardly spaced relation to the rail 10. In this connection the horizontal thickness of the end portions 16 and 17 of the anchor is less than the horizontal thickness of the intermediate body portion 20 thereof. Consequently a clearance is provided between the anchor body and the tie plate and thereby insures application of pressure at the lowermost portion of the anchor only, thus serving to tighten the anchor by a lever gripping action on the rail flange without any pressure being exerted on the tie plate tending to counteract the increased holding efi'ect incident to said lever pressure. The vertical thickness of the jaw 18 and the bearing 19 are somewhat greater than the vertical thickness of the intermediate portion 20 of the anchor body so as to better resist any tendency of the hook to spread as a result of the lever grip exerted as an incident ot the pressure of the anchor body against the cross tie.

In the anchor construction, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the opposite faces of the anchor are similarly offset inwardly so that the anchor can be applied to the rail with either face as desired next to the cross tie without affecting the operation of the device. In either position, the anchor is held eifectively from rolling or twisting movement when pressure is applied thereto at the lowermost portion of the anchor. By reason of the spaced relation of the jaw portions of the anchor from the cross tie, there is no tendency for the application of pressure on such jaw portions for causing the anchor as a whole to slide longitudinally of the rail. On the contrary, the anchor continuously exerts what may be termed a sheckle or lever grip on the rail for gripping it tightly against sliding movement.

I claim:

1. A rail anchor comprising a steel bar of rectangular cross section including a downwardly bowed intermediate Patented Jan. 25, 1955' bod p rtiq for extend n a substaniial' distance below the bottom surface of a rail flange to engage with a cross tie of a railway track through the medium of a flat face portion corresponding to the full thickness of the bar and extending in coplanar arrangement with a vertical face of the cross tie, said bar being bent at one end into hook form to provide a bearing on the top face of said rail flange and on the bottom thereof at an intermediate point transversely of the rail and formed at the opposite end with a second bearing on the top face of the'r ail base flange at the opposite side of the rail from said firstnamed top bearing, with said bearings so positioned wi h respect to each other as to cause the anchor to have a strong grip on the rail the end portions of said bar by which said bearing on the bottom face of the rail and said top bearings are provided being of reduced thick ness horizontally and of increased thickness vertically in relation to that of the intermediate portion of the anchor so as to provide substantial clearance between the side plane of the cross tie and the side faces of said end portions of the bar and to provide said gripping jaw with increased vertical rigidity.

2. A rail anchor as specified in claim 1, in which said second bearing for the top face of said rail flange is car ried by a portion of the bar extending substantially vertically in position to have snap engagement with the edge portion of the rail flange.

3. A rail anchor as specified in claim 2, in which the said hook portion contacts an edge portion of the rail flange at one side of the rail and said second bearing for the top face of said rail flange is carried by a portion of the bar extending substantially vertically in outwardly flexed engagement with an edge portion of the rail flange at the other side of the rail and cooperating with said hook portion for applying strong pressure trans versely on the rail flange at its side edges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,685,255 Warr Sept. 25, 1928 1,686,537 Schneider Oct. 9, 1928 1,765,092 NorWood June 17, 1930 2,078,710 'Henggi Apr. 27, 1937 2,373,923 Thomann et a1. Apr. 17, 1945 2,446,842 McComb Aug. 10, 194.8

FOREIGN PATENTS 457,866 Great Britain Sept. 3, 1935 

